A personal diary of the author's journey through the final phase of the life of her beloved grandmother.

On Death, Duty & Dysphoria

On March 17, 2010 my beloved 89-year old grandmother was referred for hospice care. Her dearest wish was die at home surrounded by those who love her. Because she has been living with me for the past few years,

this meant that she would die in my house. On March 21, she got her wish.

I started this blog because I discovered that writing about the situation helped me to process the tide of new

information and swirling emotions that comes with being a hospice caregiver. By documenting my journey,

I hoped it would help me to cope with everything that happened in the days to come. It has.

I continue it now, both as a tribute her remarkable life, and as a means of coming to terms with her loss.

Everyone handles the death of a loved one a little differently. If you are dealing with a similar situation,

or if you are one of the many adult children or grandchildren faced (as I have been) with making end-of-life care choices

for an elderly relative, I hope these posts will help provide some perspective. Perhaps, in some small way,

my experiences will help you cope during your own journey.

Remembering Peggy

2 comments:

I have had several people tell me that they were not sure how to leave a post in the guest book. All you have to do is click the button with the pencil on it that says "Post" - and a form should pop up. The only fields you have to fill in are the one for your name and the box near the bottom of the form. At the very bottom is a box with a group of characters. Re-type those characters exactly as you see them in the empty box below, then click submit. The box should disappear, and after a moment your post should appear.

About Me

Lisa Norris is a writer and jack-of-many-trades theatre artist. She makes her home in the Midwest with her fiancé and creative collaborator Brian, 3 fat cats and one very spoiled dog. She currently supports her bad theatre habit by working as a program development consultant and grant writer for non-profit organizations.